Running a Magic School
Sept 30, 2014 14:02:54 GMT
Post by MaddiroseX on Sept 30, 2014 14:02:54 GMT
Turn 8 - Year 2, Summer Break
The Village
The Founders decide upon Guiberto Colona’s offer, allowing him to bring his summer court to the island to form a village, whose symbiotic relationship with Avalon will benefit both parties. Duke Colona has decided to name the village Prodigioso, and begins bringing builders immediately. By the time Fall semester is ready to start, a single estate and several small houses have been built, and Duke Colona and his closest retinue begin living in Prodigioso full time.
The Merchant
SssssK shows up for the first time a few weeks before first day of classes to check out the building it will be renting for the year. It is very pleased, and although its head hurts from the glare of sunlight despite the layers of cloth it has wrapped around its head to cover its huge luminous eyes, SssssK assures the founders that this is the start of a very good working relationship. It hopes it is not being presumptuous when it pays the first two months in advance.
Little Tricks for Improving Security
A cursory check of the book reveals it to be a simple guidebook with no traps or tricks at all. It’s a good thing that none of the Founders are not in the habit of stopping with cursory checks. The hex is very, very subtle, like a rodent trying to evade capture. When the Founders finally pinpoint it, the reason for this is clear.
The book is alive.
A twisted and malicious sentience born of a botched curse inhabits the book, which operates by taking possession of the mind of whatever intelligent creature is the legal owner of said book. Regina has some skill in magic, which is the only reason she’s been able to resist the book long enough to try to convince you not to buy the book from her. Now that the book has been discovered, it doesn’t bother trying to convince you to buy it, although it does warn that if you attempt to remove it from Regina’s mind it will kill her.
Heartstone
As it reaches the point where it will be most pliable, the Founders gather to imbue the Heartstone with magic. One by one they breath natural magics into the glowing stone, until it is passed to Mica. As the other Founders look on in horror, Mica holds the Heartstone aloft, allowing the ambient magics that flow throughout Avalon to inhabit it, pushing out the natural magics the other Founders have imbued it with. Mica declines to share why he has let the Heartstone take its natural course, but it will be quite interesting to see the effects of the ambient magic will be.
Studystorm Complaints
The Founders officially launch an investigation, although Atticus and Amaya are less inclined to go along with it. The hex is high-level enough that it would be ludicrous to expect a first year (or even second year) student to identify its source, but for the Founders it is relatively simple. The hex’s source is Pater Calahasil, who has been holed up in his rooms for the entire summer ever since Gabriel deconsecrated his rooms. Whenever a Studystorm thinks of Gabriel Tempest, they are rewarded with a sharp pain in their rear.
Admissions
The basic admission standard is as follows, although students are allowed to apply under certain exceptions.
The Amaya Admission
Sorcerers Gone Wilde
Was Gabriel so determined to defeat the Goddess Callistria that he would take on any danger? Or was he so confident in the stability of the Mana Well linked to the Ley Line beneath the school? Either way, the angry Founder used the well to magically charge himself, going from barely a trickle of magical energy to brimming and full in the space of a few minutes.
Harvesting such magical energy is obvious unstable and unpredictable. Gabriel Tempest’s magical power is restored in time for the semester’s start, but no one is quite sure what effect on his magic such a crude restoration will bring.
They Are Coming
Sir Alter spends the entire summer checking his wards and warning sigils, enlisting his interns when they can be spared from going over applications. He gave the other Founders a cursory explanation at the beginning of summer break, but the week before the start of the semester he can come to no other conclusion. Nothing is misaligned.
The Sigil of Deity is practically straining under the attention of a God. So much attention is focused on it, in fact, that it must be attention focused through a mortal’s brain, which would indicate that whatever God is paying attention to Avalon has recently taken human form.
The Sigil of Ruin is strong, but the attention of the Eldritch in question is clearly split. Avalon is only one of four or five locations that this particular Eldritch is interested in.
The Sigil of Fear has been growing steadily stronger every day. It is the least precise of the sigils, meant to warn of the proximity of a sentient non-divine being older than one or two millenia. It has been moving slowly, but the sigil seems to indicate it’s roughly a mile away from the school’s boundaries.
This Land is My Land
Certain actions send out magical signals like a flare in a dark night, and the claiming of a demesne is one such action. The claiming of an inter-planar demesne has, to the Founders’ knowledge, never actually been attempted before. Perhaps this is why, when Lady Amaya makes her inter-planar claim, the resounding signal is vivid enough that it wakes the rest of the Founders from their sleep with several incredulous curses.
What Lady Amaya has done is so magically profound that it is written across the fabric of magical reality, quite clear to the other Founders.
It remains to be seen who else is aware of the new development.
Incoming Freshmen
The interns usually split up to work, based on what Founder they serve and on their schedules. When all of the interns approach the Founders, nervously, sheepishly, and clearly a little frightened, it is indication enough that they do not bear good news.
According to the guidelines set from the year before, the interns gave the admissions test with the assumption that the top 100 scorers would be allowed entrance into Avalon.
Only sixty-two potential students showed up to take the test.
Some of the interns offer to go on a research trip off of Avalon to try to figure out why applications are so sparse, but in the meantime they provide you with the numbers of the incoming year of students.
Choices to make
Atticus’ old friend, The Tortured Twins from the Third Screaming Hell, has stopped by personally to ask if her daughter could be allowed to attend the school. For reasons she cannot explain, her daughter wasn’t able to apply conventionally, but The Tortured Twins assures the Founders that her daughter would be a model student, and she will pay triple tuition in advance.
The Village
The Founders decide upon Guiberto Colona’s offer, allowing him to bring his summer court to the island to form a village, whose symbiotic relationship with Avalon will benefit both parties. Duke Colona has decided to name the village Prodigioso, and begins bringing builders immediately. By the time Fall semester is ready to start, a single estate and several small houses have been built, and Duke Colona and his closest retinue begin living in Prodigioso full time.
The Merchant
SssssK shows up for the first time a few weeks before first day of classes to check out the building it will be renting for the year. It is very pleased, and although its head hurts from the glare of sunlight despite the layers of cloth it has wrapped around its head to cover its huge luminous eyes, SssssK assures the founders that this is the start of a very good working relationship. It hopes it is not being presumptuous when it pays the first two months in advance.
Little Tricks for Improving Security
A cursory check of the book reveals it to be a simple guidebook with no traps or tricks at all. It’s a good thing that none of the Founders are not in the habit of stopping with cursory checks. The hex is very, very subtle, like a rodent trying to evade capture. When the Founders finally pinpoint it, the reason for this is clear.
The book is alive.
A twisted and malicious sentience born of a botched curse inhabits the book, which operates by taking possession of the mind of whatever intelligent creature is the legal owner of said book. Regina has some skill in magic, which is the only reason she’s been able to resist the book long enough to try to convince you not to buy the book from her. Now that the book has been discovered, it doesn’t bother trying to convince you to buy it, although it does warn that if you attempt to remove it from Regina’s mind it will kill her.
Heartstone
As it reaches the point where it will be most pliable, the Founders gather to imbue the Heartstone with magic. One by one they breath natural magics into the glowing stone, until it is passed to Mica. As the other Founders look on in horror, Mica holds the Heartstone aloft, allowing the ambient magics that flow throughout Avalon to inhabit it, pushing out the natural magics the other Founders have imbued it with. Mica declines to share why he has let the Heartstone take its natural course, but it will be quite interesting to see the effects of the ambient magic will be.
Studystorm Complaints
The Founders officially launch an investigation, although Atticus and Amaya are less inclined to go along with it. The hex is high-level enough that it would be ludicrous to expect a first year (or even second year) student to identify its source, but for the Founders it is relatively simple. The hex’s source is Pater Calahasil, who has been holed up in his rooms for the entire summer ever since Gabriel deconsecrated his rooms. Whenever a Studystorm thinks of Gabriel Tempest, they are rewarded with a sharp pain in their rear.
Admissions
The basic admission standard is as follows, although students are allowed to apply under certain exceptions.
Applicants must pass an admission test for magical ability and communication. Applicants must be the equivalent of 18-19 human years old. Magical beings classed “Malicious” or “Dangerous” may not apply. A contractual geas is required to ensure payment of tuition upon graduation or failure, passing on to nearest living blood relative should the student die. A second geas is required binding them to obey the Fae-written student handbook which prohibits cheating, intentionally endangering students, disobeying staff or founders, and other infractions (while the guidelines do not prevent students from doing these things, it does make it rather easy to expel them for doing these things)
The Eyetooth Edict
An exception is made for all creatures, even those classed as “Malicious” or “Dangerous”, as long as they have magical potential.
The Sir Alter Act
All Golems from the Matron Gartlands Golem Corp are granted admission automatically without admission tests.
The Pelt Protocol
All creatures born of magic on school grounds are granted admission automatically without admission tests.
The Amaya Admission
Any prospective student is allowed entry as long as they attend under Amaya's rules. Students must take a geas not to take any action that would harm the school, obey superiors while within the halls, and upon failure must contribute a magical reagent to Amaya’s collection. Every six months the students will be evaluated for graduation or demotion.
Sorcerers Gone Wilde
Was Gabriel so determined to defeat the Goddess Callistria that he would take on any danger? Or was he so confident in the stability of the Mana Well linked to the Ley Line beneath the school? Either way, the angry Founder used the well to magically charge himself, going from barely a trickle of magical energy to brimming and full in the space of a few minutes.
Harvesting such magical energy is obvious unstable and unpredictable. Gabriel Tempest’s magical power is restored in time for the semester’s start, but no one is quite sure what effect on his magic such a crude restoration will bring.
They Are Coming
Sir Alter spends the entire summer checking his wards and warning sigils, enlisting his interns when they can be spared from going over applications. He gave the other Founders a cursory explanation at the beginning of summer break, but the week before the start of the semester he can come to no other conclusion. Nothing is misaligned.
The Sigil of Deity is practically straining under the attention of a God. So much attention is focused on it, in fact, that it must be attention focused through a mortal’s brain, which would indicate that whatever God is paying attention to Avalon has recently taken human form.
The Sigil of Ruin is strong, but the attention of the Eldritch in question is clearly split. Avalon is only one of four or five locations that this particular Eldritch is interested in.
The Sigil of Fear has been growing steadily stronger every day. It is the least precise of the sigils, meant to warn of the proximity of a sentient non-divine being older than one or two millenia. It has been moving slowly, but the sigil seems to indicate it’s roughly a mile away from the school’s boundaries.
This Land is My Land
Certain actions send out magical signals like a flare in a dark night, and the claiming of a demesne is one such action. The claiming of an inter-planar demesne has, to the Founders’ knowledge, never actually been attempted before. Perhaps this is why, when Lady Amaya makes her inter-planar claim, the resounding signal is vivid enough that it wakes the rest of the Founders from their sleep with several incredulous curses.
What Lady Amaya has done is so magically profound that it is written across the fabric of magical reality, quite clear to the other Founders.
It remains to be seen who else is aware of the new development.
Incoming Freshmen
The interns usually split up to work, based on what Founder they serve and on their schedules. When all of the interns approach the Founders, nervously, sheepishly, and clearly a little frightened, it is indication enough that they do not bear good news.
According to the guidelines set from the year before, the interns gave the admissions test with the assumption that the top 100 scorers would be allowed entrance into Avalon.
Only sixty-two potential students showed up to take the test.
Some of the interns offer to go on a research trip off of Avalon to try to figure out why applications are so sparse, but in the meantime they provide you with the numbers of the incoming year of students.
Admission Application | Amaya's Guidelines | |
Humans | 3 | 10 |
Elementals | 1 | 3 |
Golems | 7 | 0 |
Fae | 3 | 0 |
Outsiders | 11 | 2 |
Goblins | 5 | 5 |
Trolls | 0 | 1 |
Elves | 9 | 2 |
Wellbeings | 6 | 0 |
Total | 45 | 23 |
First Day of Semester
Between the Sophomore class of returning students getting back in touch with old friends and the new incoming Freshmen class, the day the students arrive is a riotous and tumultuous kind of controlled chaos.
Friendly Golems introduce little cliques to other cliques, forming what will soon become large groups of friends. Fae mingle among the new freshmen, taking great delight in their competition to be the fastest to get from “hello” to “ha ha! If we weren’t under school geas right now I would legally own your eyes/dorm-room/virginity/sense of smell!” before running off in search of a new target.
In the middle of the crowd the new Troll student engages in a friendly argument with a pair of students that come up to his waist, trying to convince them that the Fermi Paradox and Simulation Theory do not require mutually exclusivity. Weaving in and out between legs and chattering to each other and to anyone who will listen, the new goblin students all wear matching sharp suits, expensive and clean. They are all holding many different conversations each, in a variety of different languages and often with people on entirely different areas of the crowd, running back and forth and apparently not missing the thread of discussion.
In the middle of the crowd the new Troll student engages in a friendly argument with a pair of students that come up to his waist, trying to convince them that the Fermi Paradox and Simulation Theory do not require mutually exclusivity. Weaving in and out between legs and chattering to each other and to anyone who will listen, the new goblin students all wear matching sharp suits, expensive and clean. They are all holding many different conversations each, in a variety of different languages and often with people on entirely different areas of the crowd, running back and forth and apparently not missing the thread of discussion.
On one side of the large crowd of mingling students, the Elementals seem even more standoffish than they had last year. Not a single one of them are mingling with the Humans, Golems, and Fae in the middle, and when any approach them they are met with stony silence, (even by the non-stone elementals).
On the other side, the new class of Elvish students maintains an equally stone-faced separation, talking quietly with each other in English but smoothly switching to Aeternia whenever another race of student comes close.
The outsider students show up with flair, as usual, arriving with little micro portals that send the alarms shrieking with panic until they close again. It is interesting to note that one of the students, when deposited on the grass, seems to be made of tentacles and teeth for a few moments before pulling in its various appendages and assuming the same pitch-black humanoid shape (albeit a quite embarrassed one). It would seem that the outsider students have been making concessions to keep from frightening their classmates.
Tortured Tutelage
“Atticy-Patticy!” Atticus recognizes the voice before he even turns, but it’s a very strange sound to the other Founders; a sweet and light and high-pitched and gravelly and low-pitched voice. The Tortured Twins walk briskly across the campus to where the Founders had been watching the students. She is tall and has a bright smile, and is dragging along a teenage girl outsider wearing an Avalon uniform, although the Founders are sure the girl is not a student.
“I’m so glad I caught you, I worried I’d miss your face! So this is your fancy school eh, my what a lovely place!” The Tortured Twins says brightly. Time has treated her well since the last time Atticus saw his friend, she doesn’t look a day older than sixty-seven thousand years she was the last time he saw her.
“Please stop rhyming like that, you sound stupid,” the teen outsider says sullenly.
“I hate to ask for favors Atty, though I know you don’t mind. I just seem to have found myself in a bit of a bind. For complicated reasons, and I can’t tell you why, I need you to take my daughter even though she didn’t apply. I promise she’ll make you proud if you give her a chance, and I’ll even pay the school double...no triple, in advance!”
Atticus’ old friend beams and gives the teen a little push in the direction of the Founders.
“Um...please...I’ll work really hard if you let me in, I’ll do my very best. This means a lot to my mom,” the outsider student seems embarrassed, but earnest.
“And she’ll ace every test!” The Tortured Twins adds proudly.
“Mom, please, the rhyming thing is bad enough when you do it on your own, you don’t have to do it for me-”
“Young lady, watch your tone,” The Tortured Twins snaps.
Welcome-day fireworks
To his credit, even amidst all the chaos of the first day Sir Alter notices the tension in the wards a full twenty seconds before the detonation. The Sigil of Deity explodes, firing shards of white-hot protection violently into the air, where the forces at work within shred them into sharp deadly pieces. Shards of Sigil-shrapnel rain down upon the school, and all of the Founders spring into action to neutralize them, cooling them in the air and vanishing them away so that they sprinkle harmlessly like a magical snowfall.
The Sigil was tuned to detect the attention of a God, and it simply couldn’t handle 100% of a God’s attention and presence in the school grounds. If there was any doubt that Callistria was attending as a student, it has been utterly answered.
Most of the students clap and cheer, assuming it is an amusement set up by the Founders. A few students watch the display with furrowed brows and looks of concentration, and make their way through the crowds to gather others. When the group start moving towards the library intently, it’s clear that the entirety of the Studystorms will be researching what exactly the explosion of the Sigil meant.
Hedera
Now that he knows what to look for, Mica Eyetooth can easily pick out a handful of students whose eyes flick over corners and crannies and rooftops. The poor dears think they’re being casual about it, but they’re far better at treking and puzzle-solving than they are at stealthy subterfuge. It’s clear they’re looking for patterns in the brick of the school, for paths to climb from one rooftop to another, for little details they missed last year. For that kind of student it’s clear it has been a boring summer, and they are positively hungry for new adventure. They also seem rather jealous of the Wellbeings’ ability to fling themselves from roof to roof without any attention to pesky little things like “gravity” or “danger”. It’s a good thing Mica built the Helix statue to give them something to work on.
Growing Strong
They move very, very carefully along the ground, carrying their roots in their fingerlike branches. The crowd of students grows quiet and makes way for them as they pass, out of respect or possibly fear. Twelve large Sepisapia plants make their way to the Founders, using their largest roots to glide across the ground like dry octipi.
It’s been a while since the Founders were taught the language, but their leader’s message is simple enough to convey without too much fuss; since the application now allows the automatic admission of any magical creatures born on Avalon’s campus, the Sepisapia have six saplings to drop off who will be attending classes this year.
Choices to make
Atticus’ old friend, The Tortured Twins from the Third Screaming Hell, has stopped by personally to ask if her daughter could be allowed to attend the school. For reasons she cannot explain, her daughter wasn’t able to apply conventionally, but The Tortured Twins assures the Founders that her daughter would be a model student, and she will pay triple tuition in advance.
[_] Allow The Tortured Twins’ daughter to attend.
[_] Do not allow The Tortured Twins’ daughter to attend.
[_] Other (write-in)
Although Founder Pelt surely meant for his adjustment to the application guidelines to allow the Wellbeings attendance, it seems the sentient plants of Avalon’s forest are a little more legally canny than the Founders thought. Technically the saplings are magical beings that have been born on the campus, and therefore have the right to attend automatically. That said, the Founders may veto this right if the majority decides to do so.
[_] Allow the Sepisapia saplings to attend.
[_] Do not allow the Sepisapia saplings to attend.
[_] Other (write-in)
The decision to not buy Regina’s cursed and living book is obvious, but letting it leave Avalon is a much more difficult choice. The book is refusing to let Regina give her input on the subject, so it is up to the Founders to decide what must be done.
[_] Allow Regina to leave Avalon, ostensibly to hunt for more books.
[_] Lock Regina in the vaults, keeping her a magical prisoner.
[_] Remove the book’s influence from Regina’s mind, even if it kills her.
[_] Other (write-in)
In the first year of Avalon’s existence, three hundred students applied for the opportunity to attend, of which only the highest-scoring hundred were allowed entry. This year the requirements allow four more entire species to apply, and yet only sixty-two students applied. The gap is too wide to for it to be coincidental; there must be some explanation.
(Each Founder may make this choice individually)
[_] Pull your interns from their various duties to investigate.
[_] Leave Avalon for the semester to investigate.
[_] Use up magical energy to investigate.
[_] Other (write-in)
Duke Colona approaches the Founders and makes small-talk about the progress of the village Prodigioso. It is his understanding that students are allowed to visit the village, and their curiosity has already brought a few of them to look at the progress and marvel. He mentions that someone named “Your-Child’s-Soul-Is-Screaming-Oh-God-Oh-God-Make-The-Screaming-End” has approached him, asking if some of her courtiers could rent a few buildings and set up shop in Prodigioso. The offer is quite tempting, and he’s considering accepting it, but as a professional courtesy wondered if the Founders have any advice on the matter.
[_] Advise Duke Colona to let The Screaming End rent the space.
[_] Advise Duke Colona to not let The Screaming End rent the space.
[_] Other (write-in)
Lady Amaya has made it clear she wishes to hold extra-curricular classes on curse tracking, removal, and reversal this semester. The Wellbeings beg for Atticus to continue his classes. The Cult of Callistria makes it clear that they hope Pater Calahasil will continue his History of Faith lessons. The other Founders may also take a hand in teaching if they wish.
(Each Founder may make this choice individually)
[_] Write-in classes you wish to teach this semester
Inter-planar communication is such a tricky thing to manage, it’s not surprising that when the voice arrives in Lady Amaya’s head, it also resounds in the heads of others: Mica Eyetooth and Pater Calahasil also hear the voice. The voice is low and gravelly; even though the words are purely mental they are so low that it seems shakes the Founders’ bones.
“Sardy s'g'noleb ot remaerd? I draeh uoy remaerd, raeh remaerd emoc ot Sardy,” the voice says. “Sardy sreh, ehs yas?” It chuckles, and the laugh is far from pleasant. “On Sardy...ENIM,” it adds with finality.
There is a pause, the distinct impression of searching, like a probing eye the size of a man, or house-sized fingers groping blindly through layers of darkness.
“Nol-a-va?” It breathes, carefully sounding the word out, “Aaaaa, Nolava!”
Its final words are said with such force and ferocity that they almost bowl the listeners over: “Sardy ENIM! Nolava ENIM! ENIM G’NIHTYREVE ENIM! Od remaerd th’gif em? Od remaerd th’gif em rof Sardy, rof Nolava?”
The voice grows quiet.
(Eyetooth, Pater, Amaya)
[_] Write-in
Personal Actions for Fall Semester
[_] Write-in